Hilary “Hilly” Glenn Cheney

July 5, 2013

FAIRHOPE, Ala - Hilary "Hilly" Glenn Cheney, died peacefully at her home on June 28, 2013, in Fairhope, Ala.

Born on February 7, 1925, in Moulton, Alabama, she was the daughter of Addie Velena "Lena" Johnson Glenn and Walter Irwin Glenn Sr.

Hilly was married to H. Donald Cheney, Sr. on December 24, 1945, in Pittsfield, Mass. She was married to her beloved Don for 64 years before he died on October 29, 2009, in Freeport, Maine. Services will be conducted in the Arlington Cemetery where she will be buried next to her husband.

She was also predeceased by her grandson; Andrew Donald Cheney, November 23, 1974.

Survivors include her much-loved brother; Walter Irwin Glenn, Jr. of Moulton, Ala.; her children; H. Donald Cheney, Jr. and his wife Ingrid Cheney, of Fairhope, Ala., and Cynthia Cheney Christie of Massachusetts; her grandchildren; Sarah Cheney and her husband Craig Makens, of Houghton, Emily Cheney Wellerritter, and her husband, Timothy Wellerritter of Cumberland, Maine, and Alexandra Velena Christie of New York City; great-grandchildren; Elise Cheney-Makens and Sigrid and Monty Wellerritter; special cousins; Peggy Craig of Moulton, Ala. and Warren Glenn of Decatur, Ala.

Hilly had a special love of American history and a desire to learn about early American handicrafts. Her interest in early pottery, glassware, furniture and architecture was reflected in her many homes. Her favorite places to visit were historic Williamsburg, the Shelburne Museum, Sturbridge Village and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich. She was especially thrilled when she and her family lived for several months in the historic Martha Washington home in Greenfield Village. When traveling south to Moulton, Ala., she always looked forward to visiting Berea College in Berea, Ky.

In the 1950s, she became fascinated by early American tole ware painting and enrolled in a painting class near her home in New Haven, Conn. Over a period of several years she mastered the technique of tole ware painting and decorated early American metal boxes, trays and other tin ware.

Hilly loved to cook and shared her love of cooking with her family. She made the best iced tea.

She will always be remembered for her beautiful flower gardens which can be found at former homes in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Alabama. She loved gardening and always could be found on her hands and knees in the dirt even at the age of 88 in her last garden in Fairhope, Ala.